Years of service as a condition for pension security of military officers and persons equivalent to them

The article presents a study of the legislative and law enforcement practice of calculating years of service as a condition for pension provision for persons discharged from military service and persons equated to them. Based on the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the author emphasizes that a pension for years of service is an integral part of the special professional status of persons discharged from military service and persons equated to them. The author supports the arguments of scholars about the need to preserve the institution of years of service. The author characterizes the differences in the application of the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Pension Provision for Persons Discharged from Military Service and Certain Other Persons” and the resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine establishing the general and preferential rules for calculating years of service. It is given the analyzed decisions of the Supreme Court on disputed issues. It is emphasized that the preferential enrollment of years of service is not an independent type of it and does not compete with its calendar calculation. The author argues that the calculation of years of service on preferential terms should be preserved with due regard for the specifics of such enrollment since it is one of the mechanisms of the state’s provision of social guarantees for persons who daily risk their lives/health and perform duties to protect the existence of the state itself. Based on the analysis of the legislative provisions, the author confirms that the years of service required for the entitlement to a pension for years of service depend on the period in which a person has discharged from military service. It is presented the arguments regarding the need to return the previous version of para. 1.3 of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of July 17, 1992 № 393, which fixed the conditions for the enrollment of certain periods of service to years of service on preferential terms precisely during the appointment of pensions, and not when determining their amount. The author proposes to supplement Article 12 of the Law of Ukraine “On Pension Provision for Persons Discharged from Military Service and Certain Other Persons” with a provision stating that years of service as a condition for granting a pension under this Article should be calculated on preferential terms for persons who have performed the relevant service.